Saturday, March 29, 2014

the cure for the itch

3/24/14

Last night was a bit of a rough night.I awoke from a deep sleep a little after
midnight, hearing a strange sound and feeling thirsty.While heading for the companionway to check
out the noise, my groggy eyes spotted two bottles, one of which was my water
bottle.I continued to the companionway
steps, looking out to see if anything was unusual and reached for my water
bottle.As I raised it, I felt and heard
it slosh.I removed the lid and tipped
it up for a big swallow of 91% isopropyl alcohol.

I had reached for the bottle from memory, handled it by
habit, never looking at it.What would
have been the second swallow was spit out and the coughing and spitting
began.The alcohol had been left out because
of its supposed ability to relieve the itch from sand fly bites if applied
externally.There was no itching felt
now.

I grabbed the water bottle, rinsed and spit and then drank a
pint of water.After a little
contemplation and urging, I leaned over the side and stuck my fingers down my
throat, expelling as much as I could.All my life I had heard of that maneuver but never used it.I did not want to, but thought it better than
leaving the poison inside me.

I fired up the computer to research treatment options.“Get thou to professional medical attention
post haste” or words to that effect.Hard to do from a sailboat in the middle of nowhere.Oh, and don’t induce vomiting. Hmm.

We looked through the boat for first aid information but
found none.Both of thought we had a
good first aid reference aboard.Memo to
self.

I called for any medically trained folks on VHF channel 16,
the hailing channel.There were about 30
boats in the area, give or take, but none responded at this late hour.There is a handful of staff on Warderick
Wells Cay who monitor channel 16 while working to assist with emergencies, no
response.

We tried to remember recommended treatments for ingestion of
bad “stuff”.I thought of charcoal
tablets but wasn’t sure if that was correct in this situation and besides, we
have none.I elected not to tear open a
water filter.“eat bread” but for
what?“drink milk”, but for what?We weren’t sure, so I ate some bread and
drank some milk and more water.

My son and daughter-in-law were probably needlessly worried
because my next step was to email them for medical advice.I lost internet before they could
respond.As of today, I seem to be doing
ok, just some chest congestion and a raw throat.And a little tired.It was a fairly long night.

About Me

We are old "Cal" hands, with two Cals. Our first is Knot Ready a Cal 27T2 which we keep on Flathead Lake for racing and cruising all summer. Our 2nd is Submit,Cal Cruising 36, currently on the East Coast. Our home/office whenever possible.